This is my favorite genre and I've come to expect either somewhat labored attempts at humor, painfully long examples, or a dead dull list of facts. This book is different. Every sentence and chapter is interesting and meaningful. There is a great mix of psychology and philosophy - of insight and thought provoking ideas. This is the best book I've listened to (or read) in a long time.

I opened The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom expecting a sophisticated self-help book. Well, Jonathan Haidt provides much more than pop psychology in this book and I am not going to give away what he has in mind. Basically, Haidt surveys the literature on happiness from the ancients to the most contemporary neuropsychology. He presents what he has learned in a cogent manner and – presto – the reader is better fitted for life than before. The final chapters summarize what we know from the ancients and what contemporary psychology research teaches about happiness. It is all thought provoking, easily accessible to anyone interested, and very helpful to everyone seeking to deal more effectively with daily life. I have purposed to read more of Haidt’s work. His newest book, The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion, will be my next selection. If you are not happy with this review, perhaps Haidt can explain why. George Wilson's narration is very good.

The clarity of reasoning, practical exercises, and clear scientific grounding make this book a real gem. I also loved the historical information on the various ideas.

What other book might you compare The Happiness Hypothesis to and why?

A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy, by William B. Irvine because both advocate similar approaches and reach similar conclusions about things.

What does George K. Wilson bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

George's rich voice is perfect - he could make the most boring book in the universe entertaining!

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

How to Explain Away Anything

Any additional comments?

The one issue I have with this book is that I felt the author's understanding of sociology and psychology far outstrips his understanding of the various ancient philosophical systems of the world. Many of his assumptions about the view propagated by a given philosophical school are based upon one or more statements made by a single representative of that school and are not really representative of the school as a whole.

For example, his portrayal of Stoics as promoting a passionless existence is not really accurate (see Seneca). They merely promoted an attitude of not being addicted to the object of the passions but agreed that one could enjoy the normal passions of life and still be a 'good Stoic' living a philosophical life. His assertion that some things from outside ourselves can make us happy is also based on only a surface understanding of happiness in Stoic philosophy. Things outside us can make us happy (connections to others for example) because of the value judgements we make about those things. Hence, the happiness is still coming from within as its source is actually our own value judgement, not the external thing itself. A relationship has no power to make a person happy on its own. In fact many people who are in relationships are balls of misery. It is the judgement that "this relationship is good and therefore I am happy" that makes us happy - which is precisely what the Stoics taught.

I think these misunderstandings are simply due to the fact that the author's background is not in philosophy, so he would have no reason to be that familiar with every detail of the ideas of these various schools. To be fair, he also made some very accurate observations, too. His description of arete and eudaimonia was completely accurate, showing that his understanding of these concepts is very clear.

Ultimately, the author doesn't really advocate anything. He somehow manages to say all manner of intelligent things without firmly standing for anything in particular - something that is disturbingly prevalent in books written by intellectual types - other than perhaps a sort of psychological "middle way" between complete hedonism and complete asceticism - a stance that is conveniently easy to agree with. He says that yes, it is important to try not to be attached to anything but you also need passion. Yes, you need hardship but not too much. Yes, happiness comes from within but some things outside ourselves can also give us lasting happiness. So, essentially, he talks a lot without really saying anything at all.

However, overall, I think he main thrust of his book is useful in a pragmatic way. I'm an advocate of using any means available to live a full and happy life and ancient philosophy and modern psychology are perfectly complimentary to one another.

This is truely one of the best audiobooks I have listened to. It is not just a simple self-help book, it is also full of detailed (but interesting) explanations of the working of the human mind. Although long, it is an easy listen.

the author unifies his treatment of happiness, with some rather happy metaphors, viewing new psychological research in the perspective of ancient wisdom.

But in his treatment of hypocracy, he sounds rather silly, because he seems to deny the existance of good and evil. And almost in the next breath, he seems to say that judgementalism is , uh, dare we say "evil"?

None the less, it is an excellent book on how to be happy -- not going Buddist, and disengaging from the joys of life to avoid the sorrows, but rather choosing the right sorts of pleasures, the ones that one can look back on and feel good about.

I really enjoyed this book, but as I find with most books in this category the title isn't really accurate. I found it more as an informative read, with an almost educational feel on brain development, society behaviors etc., having said that I did really enjoy it, finding it interesting. I was excited to listen to it every day on my way to and from work and I felt like I learned alot after I was done. The narrater has a great voice and was very easy to listen to.

This audiobook is packed with a lot of information. I actually look forward to driving so I can listen to it. So many times throughout I had an "aha" moment and things in my life all of a sudden made sense. It starts slow so be patient. Highly recommended.

I found something that makes a difference! I decided to try medication (which I had always steered well clear of) based on the author's findings. Then I added cognitive therapy, which allowed me to stop the medication. Nobody's life is perfect, but this book sure made a difference in mine!